15.5 Miles and Lots of Signs

This Sunday’s long run was supposed to be 15 miles. Thanks to my solid Catholic school math skills, I ended up running 15.5. Kidding—what really happened is that I tried to do math at mile 11, completely wiped out, and miscalculated how far I had left to go.

I was lucky enough to be in Maine for this one. Honestly, I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in New England—maybe even the world. If you’ve never made the trip to the Southern coast of Maine, I can’t recommend it enough.

In my last post, I wrote about looking for signs. On my hardest days, I wonder if that’s just desperation—my way of trying to stay connected to Becky. But on my best days, I believe it really is her, finding ways to remind me she’s still with me.

The first sign today came early. I ran past a woman wearing a Friends T-shirt. And not in an ironic Y2K way. Just… a woman in 2025 walking down the road repping Friends. That show was everything to me, Becky, and Scott. We watched it all the time, and for the series finale, I drove home from college on a Thursday night just to watch it with her. Scott stayed home and watched it solo because he didn’t want us talking through it. Becky and I watched it in the family room with her dad, Dave.

Then, just after the Friends shirt, I passed someone who had to be exactly 4’11”—Becky’s height.

And finally, the route took me right past the lighthouse where Becky and I took one of our last photos together. In recent years, we didn’t get more than a few hours at a time—life and distance always got in the way. But in 2021, Kate and Becky secretly planned a weekend for just me and Becky to go to Maine together. Two nights. Just the two of us. Eating out, checking out the sights, laughing about everything and nothing. When I think about it now, it’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given. I really thought we had more trips left. But I’m deeply grateful for the ones we had.

I also wanted to say thank you. We’ve raised $2,934 for Joslin so far—well on our way to the $14,000 goal in Becky’s memory. I’m so grateful for your support. Truly.

Big love,

Kate